Sewerage system for trains.



No. 809,070 I PATENTED JAN. 2, 1906. J. H. METTBNHEIMER & W. L. HERBLIN.

SEWERAGE SYSTEM FOR TRAINS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB.16.1904.

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Nv0. 809,0'70. PATENTED JAN. 2, 1906.

J. H. METTENHEIMER & w. L. HERBLIN. SEWERAGE SYSTEM FOR TRAINS.

APPLICATION FILED FEB-16.1904.

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i I 753 A lto meyk UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN HENRY METTENHEIMER AND WILLIAM LEONARD HERBLIN, OF

. AUSTIN, TEXAS. V

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 2, 1906.

Application filed February 16, 1904. Serial No. 194.236.

To all, whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, JOHN HENRY MET- TENHEIMER and WILLIAM LEONARD HERB- LIN, citizens of the United States, residing in Austin, in the county of Travis and State of Texas, have jointly invented certain new and useful Improvements in Sewerage Systems for Trains, of which the following is a specification.

Our invention aims to provide a system for use on trains or vehicles which will permit the uninterrupted use of water-closets.

At present it is customary to lock the closets throughout a train on the arrival of the train at depots or terminal sidings. This is sometimes a matter of great hardship, especially-in the case of sleeping-cars, and yet it is necessary with the present style-of water-closet used. With our system it is only necessary to change the outlet of the water-closet when the train is at a station. The sewage during this time is collected in a receptacle which is afterward easily cleaned out while the train is running. The objectionable condition arises very frequently in sleeping-car trains, which are open to passen gers early in the'evening for trains leaving near midnight and which often arrive at their destination very early in the morning and stand in the station while the passengers are dressing.

- Various advantages in detail are set forth hereinafter, and the points of novelty are set forth in the claims hereinafter.

The accompanying drawings illustrate an embodiment of the invention.

Figure 1 is a side elevation, partly in section, illustrating the complete system. Fig. 2 is a central section through the bowl of the closet and the adjacent parts.- Fig. 3 is a longitudinal section of the reserve tank or receptacle. Fig. 4 is a horizontal section through the closetvalve.

As illustrated, the water-closet bowl A is of the usual type with a flushing-rim which may be connected by a passage B with a source of water for flushing. The bowl A has a direct vertical opening, preferably in the form of a pipe O of convenient height, through which ordinarily the sewage will be discharged directly from the train, the pipe 0 being mounted directly over an aperture in the floor D of the car. The bowl is preferably provided with an additional opening at one side connecting with a trap E, which leads to the receptacle above referred to. Any suitable means may be provided for directing the discharge immediately from the train or to the receptacle at will. With the style of bowl described a valve F may be used, which is carried on a rocking shaft G, bymeans of which it may be turned to close either the main opening of the bowl, as shown in full lines, or the supplementary opening, as shown in dotted lines. Then the supplementary opening is closed by the valve, the closet operates like the ordinary straightoutlet closet now generally used on trains. When the valve is turned down to close the main opening, the closet will operate in the manner of an ordinary wash-out closet, the sewage being washed through the trap E and the bowl washed out by the flushingwater coming through the passage B. A preferred construction of the valve is illustrated in Fig. 4' in detail. The shaft G is of large size, so as to be easily turned and to be free from clogging. The housing H of the shaft is screw-threaded at one end and a gland J which serves also to set and hold the valve firmly in position, is screwed into the housing H against suitable packing material K. The shaft G is provided with an extension upon which is carried a hand-wheel L. The gland J is provided with another handwheel M.

The receptacle or tank N may be conveniently arranged under the floorD of the car and connected by a pipe O with the trap E, the pipe 0 forming, if desired, the down leg of a siphon. The tank is ordinarily entirely closed and has an inclined bottom P, as shown in Fig. 3, at the lower end of which is a valve, such as the ordinary gate-valve Q. The water in the trap E prevents the escape of gases from the receptacle. The stem R of the tank-valve Q is supported in hangers on the under side of the car and extends upward to any suitable point, preferably a point in proximity to the bowl A, and is provided with an operating hand-wheel S. A vent T may be provided above the outer leg of the trap E, through which the objectionable odors may pass by way of suitable tubing above the roof of the car. Means are preferably provided for forcibly expelling the contents of the tank N by admitting fluid under 7 pressure at the time that the valve Q is opened. Preferably a steam-pipe U is provided entering the upper end of the tank and which can be very easily connected with the steam-pipes which run underneath the floor of the car. A valve is provided in the steam-pipe. The admission of steam obviously forces out the material and thoroughly cleans the tank.

The tank may be placed lengthwise of the car, if desired. Various other changes may be made from the embodiment illustrated, either in the construction of the separate parts or in the proportions and relative positions of the same without departing from the invention. The vent T may be closed to form a siphon of the trap and the pipe 0, in which case ventilation of the receptacle N may be obtained by an opening in the receptacle itself.

To prevent the contents of the tank from freezing in cold weather, the tank may be heated in any suitable manneras, for exam ple, by a coil or return bend from the usual steam-heating pipes carried under the cars.

It will be observed that by the use of a tank or receptacle N at a distance laterally from the bowl of the closet the latter may be placed in its usual position at the end of a car immediately over the trucks, while the tank is placed at another point where there is more room under the car. The arrangement of the supplementary opening at the side of the closet-bowl above the bottom thereof permits the use of a long inclined pipe 0 and also locates the valve-stem G in a most accessible position. at a distance from the closet also permits of the use of one tank for two or more closets at a distance from each other. The dischargevalve F from the bowl and the dischargevalveQfrom the tank are independently controlled and accessible from the same point, so that each may be shut perfectly tight and the wear on the parts of each may be taken up without ailecting'the other. ness of the valves is obviously of considerable importance to prevent leakage of the The location of the tank This tight sewage at an improper time. The tank by being located at a distance and at a point where it is not interfered with by the trucks may be made of considerable depth and with a sharp inclination to its bottom, so as to insure the quick discharge of the contents.

What we claim is- 1. A sewerage system for trains and the like, including in combination a water-closet bowl A with a direct vertical outlet 0, a tank N into which the sewage is to be discharged and retained and from which it may be discharged at will, a trap E outside of said bowl and between said bowl and said tank, and a valve F which in one position closes the pipe C and forms the bottom of the bowl so that the sewage passes through the trap into said tank, and which in another position closes the trap E and forms the side of the bowl so that the sewage is discharged directly through said vertical outlet without passing through said trap.

2. A sewerage system for trains and the like, including in combination a water-closet bowl, a tank N into which the sewage may be discharged and which is adapted to retain the sewage and to permit the discharge of the same at will, an unobstructed straight outlet-pipe C from the bottom of said closetbowl, a pipe 0 and trap E connecting said tank with the side of said bowl, a valve F which in one position forms the bottom of the bowl and closes the straight outlet-pipe and which in another position forms the side of the bowl and cuts off the trap E, a discharge-valve Q from said tank having a hand-operated controlling device in the vicinity of the bowl, and a steam-pipeU entering said tank.

In witness whereof we have hereunto signed our names in the presence of tWo subscribing witnesses.

JOHN HENRY METTENHEIMER. WILLIAM LEONARD HERBLIN.

Witnesses:

ROBERT RoY SMITH, JosEPH H. FREEMAN. 

